Father Sergius, by Leo Tolstoy

Very enjoyable and thought provoking story about a young Russian nobleman and military officer who is disillusioned by human weakness, vice, and sin in the world and decides to give up a brilliant military career to become a priest.  He discovers to his chagrin that sin and weakness have a long reach. They continue to bedevil him even as a priest in a big city, then even as a hermit in a remote monastery.  His search for spiritual improvement does not prove fruitless, however, because he realizes what his most insidious fault is when he abandons his hermitage in shame after a serious lapse and visits an old childhood friend in reduced circumstances.     

I suspect this story may have been inspired by Tsar Alexander I, who was rumored to have faked his death and entered a monastery, living the rest of his life under an assumed identity.

The Kreutzer Sonata, by Leo Tolstoy

Probably most people today (and apparently in Tolstoy’s day too) are victims of a particular kind of cognitive dissonance.  They think that they can live a dissolute lifestyle when young, indulging in a series of short-lived relationships where they view their partner as little more than an instrument of pleasure, then do a 180 degree turn on their wedding night to become the perfect, virtuous, considerate spouse who never loses sight of their husband or wife as a full human being just like themselves, to be treated with due respect.  In The Kreutzer Sonata, Tolstoy gives his answer to that proposition: Not. Going. To Happen. 

The protagonist, a wealthy young aristocrat named Pozdnyshev, dreams of the ideal marriage to a virtuous woman, while at the same time living it up with the other debauchees of his social circle.  When he finally does fall in love with a beautiful, virtuous woman and marries her, he finds that the corruption of mind and soul in which he has been marinating himself for years are impossible to get rid of, influencing his behavior and how he thinks about his wife, ultimately bringing them both to tragedy.

Mumu, by Ivan Turgenev

This story made me cry! The Goodreads description says it is about the poverty and brutality of serfdom, but I didn't see anything like that in the story.

While Gerasim, as a serf, is not rich, he lives in comfortable enough circumstances and does not want for any material necessity, and neither do his fellow serfs, whether in the country or city.  Rather, Gerasim's problem is isolation and loneliness, brought about by his disability as a deaf-mute and the indifference of those around him, whether serf or free.

The laundress he courts does not return his affection, and it's only after she has spent a few years married to a drunk does she learn something: There's a difference between a man who tries, however awkwardly, to earn her affection and one to whom she has merely been given as an unsuccessful means to cure bad behavior. Big difference.

Gerasim's affection is only welcomed and returned with joy when he rescues a little dog named Mumu. She is the apple of his eye, his faithful shadow, his sole consolation in this life. She's the only one who appreciates him. An ill timed bark and momentary irritation from the old lady (mistress of the house), however, is enough to lead to Gerasim being forced to give her up too, in the most heart wrenching and irrevocable of ways, on top of everything else he's already given up.

The old lady is not a cruel or malicious woman; she is just thoughtless and self centered. She has been so long accustomed to her serfs' following orders, satisfying her wants that she has ceased to think of them as people. To her they're instruments. By the end of the story, she is surprised to find herself in the same spot as King David was, accused of taking away Uriah's one ewe lamb. (King David was surprised too).

Even the other serfs, who know perfectly well what Mumu means to Gerasim, and how capricious their mistress is, fail him. They could have pleaded his case to her or just helped him keep the dog out of her way until she was in a better mood. Instead, her word is law and they obey without question. They don't put themselves in Gerasim's place any more than she does, and putting themselves out for his sake even a little bit doesn't occur to them.

I can see how this story was good for consciousness raising among the Russian nobility of Turgenev's day toward the serfs. But its lessons still apply to our own time--we modern people who use legality as an excuse to dispense with morality, who are becoming accustomed to think of each other in a utilitarian way as instruments rather than as persons.

First Love, by Ivan Turgenev

Excellently told story about a 16 year old boy's first experience and understanding of love with the seemingly unattainable young lady who has moved in next door... and his unlikely rival.  As with other books by Turgenev, the characters come across as very real such that you can lose yourself in the story.  Really enjoyed it.

Spring Torrents, by Ivan Turgenev

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
--Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken

That's what this book is about--those times in a person's life when he stands at a fork in the road.  He must choose only one, and that decision changes his life irrevocably.  A young Russian nobleman has just arrived in Frankfurt on his way home after a grand tour in Italy.  He expects to stay in Frankfurt only a few hours until his next stagecoach arrives.  While walking around the city, he sees a small Italian confectionery shop on a little side street and decides to drop in for a glass of lemonade.  This sets off a series of events that culminate in a choice between a life of happiness or one of misery.

I couldn't stop reading until the end!

Chess Story, by Stefan Zweig

This is now one of my favorite of Stefan Zweig's stories.  It's set on a transatlantic ocean liner.  A couple of passengers, the narrator and a competitive Scottish businessman (who is also a chess aficionado), while away the time with a game of chess.  After the narrator loses, he good naturedly tells the businessman that Czentovic, the top chess grand master is on board ship.  Unable to resist a good game, the businessman organizes a match between Czentovic and all the other passengers.  A mysterious stranger shows up who seems to be a chess genius, giving the passengers' side a realistic chance of winning.  We learn Czentovic's life story, as well as that of the mysterious stranger, who are just about as opposite to one another as it is possible to be, and the chess game becomes something  of a duel between the two men and all each stands for.

This was one of Zweig's last stories, and it was published posthumously, after he and his wife committed suicide in Brazil.  One can't help but regret how deep his despair must have been, and how much additional good work he could have done if he hadn't succumbed to it.

The Death of Ivan Ilyich, by Leo Tolstoy

This is a short story or novella about a man's last days. It realistically portrays how easy it is to get completely preoccupied in the details of day to day life as if they were all-important...and the shock when something reminds you that one day it will end. Ivan Illich is a moderately well-to-do, very ordinary middle aged lawyer employed somewhere in the government bureaucracy. He has a wife, a grown up daughter, and young son, and until he contracts a serious illness, he was concerned with such things as upward mobility, promotions, office politics, his daughter's engagement, and the details of renovating and moving into a bigger, better apartment. Despite reassurances from the doctors, none of whose treatments help, Illich goes into a slow physical decline and experiences the isolation of the end of life, which he is not in the least prepared for, whose approach he can do nothing about, and which none of his worldly family and friends can understand.